Haunt
by StoryBard
Summary: "I died. I was going to die, anyway. If not in our fight, in a few more days I would have died." After War AU, incest


**Title**: Haunt

**Author**: LadySable (LiveJournal)/StoryBard(here)

**Pairings**: Itachi and Sasuke

**Rating**: T

**WARNING**: This will have homosexuality and incest. If either offend you, this is not the story for you.

**Disclaimer**: The characters and world is property of Masashi Kishimoto. I do not make money from this fan made work.

**Summary**: "I died. I was going to die, anyway. If not in our fight, in a few more days I would have died." After War AU, light Incest

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><p>The cold November rain fell. The dead leaves shined from the crystal liquid.<p>

He was standing on the muddy ground, eyes closed, face turned up at the afternoon sun that poked through the separating clouds. He wasn't dressed for the rain, wasn't even dressed for the cold.

It was the last day.

Sasuke opened his eyes when arms wrapped around his waist; he was not one to be startled by familiar arms. "Itachi."

"Little brother."

The silence of the rain permeated. Itachi removed his arms, and wrapped a cloak around Sasuke's shoulders before breaking the silence, "You shouldn't be out in this weather."

"It doesn't matter, it's stopping," Sasuke said, raising his hand to catch the last drop of rain.

"It doesn't matter, it's still cold," his brother said. He placed a heavy hand on Sasuke's shoulder, and said, "Let's go in. There's no sense in waiting out here."

"What sense is there in waiting inside?" Sasuke asked, but he turned to go in with his brother.

"You won't get a cold this way," Itachi said, turning to face him, a small smile on his face.

Sasuke looked into the eyes that were surround by black, rather than white. He looked away. His mistake rubbing itself into his face.

"Why do you have to do this?" Sasuke demanded. "You were a hero! More than I ever was, more than I ever wanted to be!" he grasped onto Itachi's collar with feeble hands. "It's not right. You don't have to leave." He looked up, but stopped just before meeting his eyes, and looked down, avoiding the poke to his forehead he knew was coming.

"Oh, Sasuke," Itachi breathed. "It's not right for me to be alive. I died. There's no way I could continue to exist. It's absurd, and it's not the same as if I were alive. You can't even look me in the eyes."

"It's not because of that! I shouldn't have killed you, and now you're alive, but it was my mistake, my fault. If only I hadn't..." Sasuke trailed off.

Itachi pulled him into a hug, "You need to stop living in the past, Sasuke. I died. I was going to die, anyway. If not in our fight, in a few more days I would have died. I'm not supposed to be alive. I'm not alive."

"Yes, you are! You're in front of me. You talk. You're holding me. It doesn't matter that you're not supposed to be alive, you are, to me."

"You're still too much of a child, Sasuke," there was a hint of a smile in his voice. "You should know how wrong it is for me to be alive. I don't want to live like this. It's a half-existence. I'm not needed anymore. I've done my part; I've cleaned up my mess."

"Isn't it scary?"

"Death? No, the scary part is dying. The part where you have to decide if you'll fight it, and when you try, it doesn't work, and you feel yourself slipping away while you try to cling onto your life, like hanging on to the edge of a cliff while your fingers slowly slip off of it.

"I've already died once. This will be quick and simple. You were there during the war. You saw how fast they could seal the regular zombies."

"I need you," Sasuke mumbled into Itachi's shoulder. "What were you thinking? Letting me believe that you had massacred our family for such a selfish reason? Why didn't you trust me?"

"Would you have believed me?" Itachi asked, leaning his head against Sasuke's.

"Probably not," he admitted.

"I wanted you to get stronger, even if that meant becoming the bad guy."

"And now they're going to kill you because you became the bad guy."

"Sasuke," Itachi said, leaning back to look the younger Uchiha over. "They're not killing me. They're granting my wish. I don't want to live, if that means watching you grow older, get married, have children, while I remain the same. I don't have a purpose anymore."

Sasuke leaned up and pecked his lips, "You could have a purpose; I could give you a reason to live."

Itachi gave a sad smile, and leaned down, pressing his lips against Sasuke's. Their lips parted for a gentle moment, mingling breathes, then he leaned back, and said, "I can't. It's not fair to you."

Sasuke glared up at him, "Fine. Just die. You always, always do what you want anyway. If you really want to fade away, then it's fine with me."

He turned and stormed towards the door, but paused when he heard Itachi speak.

"I won't be forgotten, Sasuke. Not if you remember me."

Sasuke turned, and yelled, "Then I'll forget you! I don't want your memory to haunt me! Always, since I was eight, haunting me, goading me, criticizing me when I failed. I don't want that anymore!"

He left the house, angry feet splashing water from puddles in all directions.

By four in the afternoon, Sasuke found himself in front of the memorial for ninja who died in action. He crouched down, tracing Itachi's name. His name was added to the memorial after the truth got out. He leaned his head against it, the rock cooling his head, and clutched his arm around himself.

He was still weak.

Tears flowed down his face.

When he looked up, he cursed. The moon was shining down at him.

He ran back to the Uchiha compound, to the house where he and Itachi had been staying.

"Itachi!" he yelled, knowing it was hopeless. They had already sealed him. Itachi's last wish had been to be sealed looking up at the moon.

"Damn it!" he yelled, punching the wooden floor.

He sat there, looking up at the moon Itachi had wanted to see.

"I can't forget you, Itachi."

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><p>AN:

This is a gift for my beta, OnlyWishedYouKnew.

I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you for reading.


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